The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) apologized for the police's lack of initiative in building trust between the police and minority communities and the "historical mistreatment" of racial minorities.
President of IACP, Terrence Cunningham, was speaking at the group's annual conference at San Diego on Monday.
The group was formed in 1893, and has over 20,000 members around the world. It is one of the most respected law enforcement associations in the country.
Cunningham said the trust between the communities can be built if the police officers take up their responsibility "to acknowledge and apologize for the actions of the past and the role that our profession has played in society's historical mistreatment of communities of color."
His admission comes after a spate of recent incidents in which minority civilians were shot by police officers. The shootings led to mistrust between police and African-American people, and provoked riots in many cities. In Tulsa, where a church member Terence Cunningham was shot, the city responded by uniting in prayers and inter-community fellowship. Residents of the city came together in worship, and shared their concerns with each other while voicing their opinion on a common platform.
Cunningham reiterated that since the past cannot be changed, they must work to change the future.
"While we obviously cannot change the past, it is clear that we must change the future. We must move forward together to build a shared understanding. We must forge a path that allows us to move beyond our history and identify common solutions to better protect our communities," he said.
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who was also present at the conference, said that in 2017 the department will start collecting data on the use of force by the police officers, though the project was in "preliminary" stages.
After the speech, Cunningham wrote in an email to The Washington Post that the police must take an initiative to build trust between the police and the communities at grass-roots level for a better future.
"Communities and law enforcement need to begin a healing process and this is a bridge to begin that dialogue. If we are brave enough to collectively deliver this message, we will build a better and safer future for our communities and our law enforcement officers. Too many lives have been lost already, and this must end. It is my hope that many other law enforcement executives will deliver this same message to their local communities, particularly those segments of their communities that lack trust and feel disenfranchised," he said.
